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PETER ALTMANN
peter.altmann@theol.uzh.ch / 775-200-5064 / 10865 Serratina Dr., Reno NV 89521
Education
Habilitation, Hebrew Bible. University of Zurich. 2015.
- Monograph: “Economics in Persian-Period Biblical Texts.”
Ph.D., Biblical Studies—Old Testament. Princeton Theological Seminary, 2010.
- Dissertation: “Deuteronomy’s Festive Meals.” (Advisor Dennis Olson)
Th.M., OT. Princeton Theological Seminary, 2004.
M. Div. Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, 2002.
B.A., German Language and Literature. University of Washington (Seattle), 1995.
Academic Positions and Teaching Experience
University of Zurich: Senior Researcher & Teaching Fellow in Old Testament/Hebrew
Bible: 2008–Present
• Current Research Project: “The Social and Political Impact of Divine Laws in
Ancient Israel and Judah.” Part of the European Research Council Project: “How
God Became a Lawgiver” (2020–2023). https://www.divlaw.uzh.ch/en.html
• Instructor: Exodus, Ezra and Nehemiah; Women in OT Narratives; Exegetical
Methods.
• Docent: Doctoral and Post-Doc Travel Seminar to Israel.
Fuller Theological Seminary: Adjunct Instructor: 2015–Present
• Online and Hybrid Courses: Old Testament Introduction; Food/Famine/Feasting in
the OT.
William Jessup University (Rocklin, CA): Adjunct Instructor: 2014, 2017
• Online Course: The Psalms for the Contemporary Church.
Pentecostal Assemblies of God Bible College (Mwanza, Tanzania): Adjunct Instructor:
Summer 2012
• Introduction to the Pentateuch.
Princeton Theological Seminary: Teaching Fellow and Instructor: 2004–8.
• Hebrew Translation, Biblical Canon, Orientation to the Old Testament, Interpretation
of Job, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew.
The Seattle School for Theology and Psychology: Instructor / Teaching Assistant: 2000–3.
• Adjunct Instructor: Hebrew Grammar, Hebrew Reading.
• Teaching Assistant: Old Testament, New Testament, Hermeneutics, Theology courses.
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Research and Teaching Interests
Current Research Topics: Biblical Law in the Persian and Hellenistic Periods; Economics
and Justice in the Biblical World; Animals and Food in the Biblical World; Pentateuch.
Further Teaching Interests: Hebrew Bible, Hermeneutics and Interpretive Methods,
Cultural and Historical Backgrounds of the Hebrew Bible, Pentateuch, Biblical and Ancient
Near Eastern Law, Psalms, Wisdom Books, Economics in the Bible and Ancient Near East,
Gender in the Bible, Ancient Hebrew and Aramaic, West Semitic Inscriptions.
Community Involvement
• Director, Urban Grinders mobile coffee trailer and life-by-design training for urban
young adults, Reno, NV, 2020–2023.
• Director, Roots for Christian Growth, Bible and theology courses for interested
laypersons, Reno, NV, 2017–2020. Courses include: Biblical Justice, America’s 7
Deadly Sins, Where Did These Denominations Come From?, Old Testament, Psalms,
Christ and Culture, God in Our City, Telling Our Stories.
• Director of Spiritual Formation, Hope Community Church, Reno, NV, 2015–2017.
• Pastoral Intern, Antioch Bible Church Northshore, Bothell, WA: 1999–2002.
• Pastoral Intern, Midrand Chapel, Johannesburg, South Africa: 1998–1999.
Further Pedagogical Training
• University of Zurich “Teaching Skills” Program, 2011–2014.
• Graduate Teaching Workshop, Princeton Seminary, 2005–6.
Language Proficiencies
• Ancient: Hebrew, Aramaic, Ugaritic, Akkadian, West Semitic dialects, Koine Greek.
• Modern: German (fluent) and French (reading).
Grants and Scholarships
• Part of: European Research Council Grant: “Divine Law” (2020-2023)
• Swiss National Science Foundation Open Access Grant: “Food Taboos” (2020)
• Fuller Seminary Inclusion and Equity Faculty Resource Grant (2020)
• Part of: Swiss National Science Foundation Sinergia: “The History of the Pentateuch:
Combining Literary and Archaeological Approaches” (2016–2019)
• Swiss National Science Foundation Open Access Grant: “Banned Birds” (2019)
• University of Zurich: research grant: “Monetized Thinking” (2012–2014)
• Swiss National Science Foundation Dissertation Project Grant (2008–2010)
• Zürcher Universitätsverein: grant for young scholars for dissertation (2008)
• Princeton Theological Seminary: “Green Fellowship in Biblical Studies” (2004–2008)
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• Professional Memberships and Responsibilities
Fellow: Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology: Economics Research Hub, 2022–Present
Founding Co-chair: “Meals in the HB/OT and Its World” Annual Unit for the Society of
Biblical Literature, 2011–16; Committee Member, 2017–2022
Book Review Editor and Editorial Board: Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, 2011–2015,
2020–Present
Blind Reviewer: Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Brill, Biblical
Interpretation, Welt des Orients, Equinox, Peter Lang.
External Advisor: Free Univ. Amsterdam, Master’s thesis: Caio Peres, “Dining at the
King's Table: Divine Hospitality in the Priestly Writings” (2018)
Core Group: FOXS (Forum for Christian Studies, Zürich), 2013–2014
Publications and Presentations
Monographs and Edited Volumes
- , and Caio Peres, Numbers: A Commentary, Tyndale (Downers Grove: IVP, in
preparation, scheduled for 2023).
- , Nadine Ueberschaer, and Frank Ueberschaer, eds., Is It Good to Be Rich? Perspectives
from Antiquity and the Bible, WUNT I (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, forthcoming 2023).
- , Anna Angelini, To Eat or Not to Eat: Studies of the Biblical Dietary Prohibitions
(Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, ArchB, in preparation, forthcoming 2023),
- What to Do with Torah? The Implementation of Divine Law in Judean Communities of
the Persian and Hellenistic Periods (in preparation)
- , Anna Angelini, and Abra Spiciarich, eds. Food Taboos and Biblical Prohibitions:
Reassessing Archaeological and Literary Perspectives, ArchB 2 (Tübingen: Mohr
Siebeck, 2020).
- , Banned Birds: The Birds of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, ArchB 1 (Tübingen:
Mohr Siebeck, 2019).
- , and Soham al-Suadi, Essen und Trinken in der Bibel, Lebenswelt der Bibel (Gütersloh:
Gütersloher Verlaghaus, 2019).
- , Economics in Persian-Period Biblical Texts: Their Interactions with Economic
Developments in the Persian Period and Earlier Biblical Traditions, FAT 109 (Tübingen:
Mohr Siebeck, 2016).
- , and Janling Fu, eds. Feasting in the Archaeology and Texts of the Hebrew Bible and
Ancient Near East (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2014).
- , Festive Meals in Ancient Israel: Deuteronomy’s Identity Politics in Their Ancient Near
Eastern Context, BZAW 424 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2011).
Essays and Journal Articles
- “Sword, Plague, and Hunger: Covid through the Eyes of the Prophet Jeremiah.” Biblische
Notizen (forthcoming, 2023).
- “Historical Perspectives on Solomon’s Riches: Is Wealth “Good” in the Historical Books
of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles?” in Is It Good to Be Rich? Perspectives from Antiquity
and the Bible, WUNT I (ed. N. Ueberschaer, F. Ueberschaer, and P. Altmann; Tübingen:
Mohr Siebeck, forthcoming 2023).
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- “The Historical Development of Temple and State Administration in Persian-Period
Yehud: Emphasizing the Extra-Biblical Sources,” Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel
(forthcoming).
- “Tracing Divine Law: Written Divine Law in Chronicles,” in Inscribe It in a Book:
Scribal Practice, Cultural Memory, and the Making of the Hebrew Scriptures, FAT 2/139
(ed. J. U. Ro and B. D. Giffone; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2023), 165–89.
- “The Legal Contests in the Aramaic and Greek Versions of Daniel 2–7,” in Festschrift for
Thomas Krüger. OBO 296 (ed. A. Schellenberg, F. Ueberschaer, and V. Bachmann;
Leuven: Peeters, 2022), 332–45.
- “Too Little Food and Drink: Hunger and Fasting,” in T&T Clark Handbook to Food in
the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel (ed. J. Fu, C. Shafer-Elliott, and C. Meyers; London:
T&T Clark, 2021).
- “The Significance of the Divine Torah in Ptolemaic Egypt in Documentary and Literary
Sources from the Third and Second Centuries BCE,” JSJ 52 (2021): 1–31.
- , and Anna Angelini, “Purity, Taboo and Food in Antiquity: Theoretical and
Methodological Issues,” Food Taboos and Biblical Prohibitions: Reassessing
Archaeological and Literary Perspectives, ArchB 2 (ed. P. Altmann, A. Angelini, and A.
Spiciarich; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), 9–24.
- , Anna Angelini, and Abra Spiciarich “Introduction: Setting the Table,” Food Taboos and
Biblical Prohibitions: Reassessing Archaeological and Literary Perspectives, ArchB 2
(ed. P. Altmann, A. Angelini, and A. Spiciarich; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), 1–8.
- , and Abra Spiciarch, “Chickens, Partridges, and the /tor/ of Ancient Israel and the
Hebrew Bible,” Welt der Orient 50 (2020): 2–30.
- “Feasting like Royalty in a Time of Famine: The Ambiguity of Joseph’s Cup in Gen
43:15–34,” ZAW 130 (2018): 349–63.
- “The Local Economies of Ancient Israel” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament (ed.
J. S. Greer, J. W. Hilber, and J. Walton; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2018), 431–37.
- “Sacred Meals and Feasts in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and its Environment: A
‘Treasure Chest’ for Early Christian Reflection,” in The Eucharist – Its Origins and
Contexts Sacred Meal, Communal Meal, Table Fellowship, and the Eucharist – Late
Antiquity, Early Judaism and Early Christianity (ed. D. Hellholm and D. Sänger; WUNT
376; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017), 1:23–41
- “Making the Meal Sacred in the Old Testament: Complexities and Possibilities for
Christian Appropriation,” Sacrality and Materiality: Locating Intersections (ed. R. Kunz
and R. Geselbrecht; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2016), 115–27.
- “Ancient Comparisons, Modern Models, and Ezra-Nehemiah: Triangulating the Sources
for Insights on the Economy of Persian Period Yehud,” in The Economy of Ancient Judah
in its Historical Context (ed. M. L. Miller, E. Ben Zvi, and G. N. Knoppers; Winona
Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015), 103–20.
- , and Janling Fu, “Feasting: Backgrounds, Theoretical Perspectives, and Introductions,” in
Feasting in the Archaeology and Texts of the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East
(Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2014), 1–31.
- “Feast and Famine: Lack as a Backdrop for Plenty,” in Feasting in the Archaeology and
Texts of the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East, 149–70.
- “Tithes for Clergy and Taxes for the King: Separate or Combined Systems of Payments in
Nehemiah?” CBQ 76 (2014): 215–29.
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- “Feast, Famine, and History: The Festival Meal Topos and Deuteronomy 26,1–15,” ZAW
124 (2012): 555–67.
- “Everyday Meals for Extraordinary People: Eating and Assimilation in Ruth,” in Decisive
Meals: Table Politics in Biblical Literature (ed. N. MacDonald et al; LNTS 449; London:
T&T Clark, 2012), 15–26.
- “Festive Meals and Identity in Deuteronomy,” The Bible and Interpretation:
http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/alt368020.shtml
- “There Will Be Doubt, But When is Doubt ‘Good’? Old Testament Reflections,”
Hermeneutische Blätter (2011): 65–79.
- “What Do the ‘Levites in Your Gates’ Have to Do with the ‘Levitical Priests’? Towards a
European-North American Dialogue on the Levites in the Deuteronomic Law Corpus,” in
“The LORD Is Their Inheritance”: Priests and Levites in History and Tradition (ed. M.
Leuchter and J. Hutton; SBLAIL 9; Atlanta: SBL, 2011), 135–54.
Lexicon Articles and Bibliographies
- “Fasting in the Hebrew Bible,” Bible Odyssey, Online.
- “Hospitality in the Hebrew Bible,” Bible Odyssey, Online.
- “Elohim,” and “Marzeah,” in Dictionary of Ancient Mediterranean Religions (New York:
Routledge, 2016).
- “Nature/Natural Resources” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Theology (ed.
S. Balentine et al., New York: Oxford University Press, 2015).
- “Diet, Bronze and Iron Age” The [Oxford] Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 286–96.
- “Aram,” “Ard, Ardites,” “Ashvath,” “Ataroth,” “Ataroth-Addar,” “Beth-Eden,”
“Encyclopedic Works on the Bible,” “Food in the Ancient Near East,” “Messianic
Banquet, OT/ANE,” “Meat, OT/ANE,” “Meal Customs, OT/ANE,” in Encyclopedia of
the Bible and its Reception. (ed. H.-J. Klauck, et al.; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2009–2020).
- “Food and Food Production,” in Oxford Bibliographies Online: Biblical Studies (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2011).
- “Samaria, Ostraca,” and “Tetrateuch,” in New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. (ed.
K. D. Sakenfeld, et al.; Nashville: Abington, 2008).
Reviews
- E. D. Heymans, The Origins of Money in the Iron Age Mediterranean World, RBL
(forthcoming).
- D. Choi, The Use and Function of Scripture in 1 Maccabees, RBL 15 (2021).
- C. Pressler, Numbers, JHS 18 (2018).
- W. Brueggemann, Money and Possessions, RBL 12 (2018).
- S. E. McGinn, L. L. E. Ngan, and A. C. Pilarski, eds., By Bread Alone, JHS 17 (2017).
- R. Boer, The Sacred Economy of Ancient Israel, JHS 16 (2016).
- J. Greer, Dining at Dan, ZDPV 131 (2015), 211–13.
- S. L. Adams, Social and Economic Life in Second Temple Judea, JHS 15 (2015).
- C. Elliott-Shafer, Food in Ancient Judah, NEA 77 (2014).
- M. Coomber, Re-Reading the Prophets Through Corporate Globalization, JHS 13 (2013).
- C. Tucker, ed., Feasts and Festivals, JHS 11 (2011).
- N. MacDonald, Not Bread Alone, JHS 9 (2009).
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Translations
- Konrad Schmid, Scribes of Torah (SBLAIL; Atlanta, SBL, forthcoming).
- Bernd Schipper, The Hermeneutics of Torah: Studies on the Tradition History of Prov 2
and the Composition of Prov 1–9 (SBLAIL; Atlanta:L, 2021).
- Co-translator of Christian Frevel, Desert Transformations: Studies in the Book of
Numbers. FAT 137 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020).
- Co-translator of An Introduction to the Septuagint (ed. S. Kreuzer; Waco: Baylor, 2019).
- Konrad Schmid, A Historical Theology of the Hebrew Bible (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
2019).
- Konrad Schmid, Is There Theology in the Hebrew Bible? (Winona Lake, IN.:
Eisenbrauns, 2015).
- Walter Dietrich, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, IEKAT (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2014).
- Co-translator, Jan. Gertz, Handbook of the Old Testament (London: T & T Clark, 2012).
Academic Lectures, Presentations, and Papers
- “Which Birds Are Banned? Identifying the Flyers in Lev 11 / Deut 14,” SBL Annual
Meeting, San Antonio, Nov. 2023.
- “The Pentateuch’s Divine Law as Positive Law in the Hellenistic Period?,” SBL Annual
Meeting, San Antonio, Nov. 2023.
- “Thou shalt not Kill? The Death Penalty and the Value of a Human Life in the Hebrew
Bible and Modern America,” Harvard University, April, 2023.
- “Viewing Persian Authorization of Torah through a Wisdom Lens,” IOSOT Triennial
Meeting, Zurich, Aug. 2022.
- “The Reception of God’s Torah in the Pentateuch: A Preliminary Study of How Later
Sections of Numbers Understood Divine Law,” How God Became a Lawgiver,
University of Zurich, June, 2022.
- Respondent to Julia Rhyder, “The Origins of the Jewish Pig Taboo,” David Noel
Freedman Award in Hebrew Bible Scholarship, SBL Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Nov.
2021.
- “In the Middle of a Many-Coursed Meal: The State of the Study of Food and Feasting in
the Hebrew Bible in Relation to the Ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean,” SBL
Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Nov. 2021.
- “The Historical Development of Temple and State Administration in Persian-Period
Yehud: Emphasizing the Extra-Biblical Sources,” SBL Annual Meeting, online, Nov.
2020.
- “The Sword, Plague, and Hunger: Covid through the Eyes of Jeremiah,” SBL Annual
Meeting, online, Nov. 2020.
- “What’s Wrong? The Dynamics of Fasting as the Embodied Entanglement of Sorrow and
Longing in the Hebrew Bible,” SBL Annual Meeting, San Diego, Nov. 2019.
- “A Deeper Look at Deut 14:4–20 in the Context of Deuteronomy,” SBL Annual Meeting,
San Diego, Nov. 2019.
- “Money Changes Things, or Does It? Approaching the Meanings of Persian-Period
Levantine Coinage,” ASOR Annual Meeting, San Diego, Nov. 2019.
- “The Priesthood in the Persian Period, Between Archaeology, Numismatics, and Biblical
Texts,” IOSOT Triennial Meeting, Aberdeen, Aug. 2019.
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- “Aquatic Creatures in the Dietary Laws: What the Biblical and Ancient Eastern Contexts
Contribute to Understanding Their Categorization,” invited lecture at the University of
Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, Apr. 2019.
- “The Politics of Fasting and Abstinence in the Hebrew Bible: Foregoing Food and Drink
as Identificatory Solidarity,” at “Food and Identity Formation in the Iron Age Levant and
Beyond,” Minergia-Gentner Symposium, Munich, Germany, Apr. 2019.
- , Anna Angelini, and Abra Spiciarich, “Three Years Chewing the Cud: Historical,
Archaeological, and Literary Reflections on the Dietary Prohibitions of Leviticus 11 and
Deuteronomy 14,” SBL Annual Meeting, Denver, Nov. 2018.
- “Feasting like Royalty in a Time of Famine: The Ambiguity of Joseph’s Cup,” SBL
Annual Meeting, Boston, Nov. 2017.
- – and Abra Spiciarich, “Chickens, Partridges, and the /tor/ of Ancient Israel and the
Hebrew Bible,” SBL Annual Meeting, Boston, Nov. 2017.
- – and Anna Angelini, “Purity, Taboo and Food in Antiquity: Theoretical and
Methodological Issues Framing the Religious-Historical Study of Biblical Dietary Laws,”
“The Larger Context of the Biblical Food Prohibitions: Comparative and Interdisciplinary
Approaches Conference,” Lausanne, June 2017.
- “One for the Birds: The broader context of the Fowl of Lev 11/Deut 14” “Sinergia
Conference,” Tel Aviv, Dec. 2016.
- “Psalm 139: History, Memory, Forgetting,” SBL Annual Meeting, San Antonio, 2016.
- “The Larger Context of the Biblical Dietary Laws,” Zurich, May 2016.
- “Response: ‘Just Desserts’: Meals and Justice.” SBL Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Nov.
2015.
- “Famine and Food Shortage: The Literary Motif and Its Political Implications.” SBL
Annual Meeting, San Diego, Nov. 2014.
- “Making the Meal Sacred in the Old Testament: Complexities and Possibilities for
Christian Appropriation.” “Sacrality and Materiality: Locating Intersections,” European
Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality. Kloster Kappel, Switz., Jan. 2014.
- “Nehemiah 5: Following in the (Persian) Emperor's Footsteps? Nehemiah's Table and its
Literary-Historical Antecedents.” SBL Annual Meeting, Baltimore, Nov. 2013.
- “Ancient Comparisons, Modern Models, and Ezra-Nehemiah: Triangulating the Sources
for Insights on the Economy of Persian Period Yehud.” European Association for
Biblical Studies, Leipzig, July 2013.
- “The Effects of Economic Changes on Theology in Biblical Texts.” University of
Edinburgh, Biblical Seminar Invited Lecture, Apr. 2013.
- “Tithes for Clergy and Taxes for the King: Separate or Combined Systems of Payments in
Nehemiah?” SBL Annual Meeting, Chicago, Nov. 2012.
- “An Overview of Sacred Meals in the Old Testament and its Environment.” The
Eucharist—its Origin and Contexts, Kiel, Germany, Aug., 2012; Lesbos, Sept., 2013.
- “The Economics of Community and Theology in Ezra.” University of Zürich Old
Testament Seminar, Oct., 2011; SBL Annual Meeting, San Francisco, Nov., 2011.
- “Everyday Meals for Extraordinary People: Eating and Assimilation in Ruth,” Decisive
Meals Conference, Basel, Feb., 2011.
- “Something to Chew On: Reading the Meals in the Old Testament and its World.” SBL
Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Nov., 2010.
- “What Do the ‘Levites in Your Gates’ Have to Do with the ‘Levitical Priests’? Towards a
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European-North American Dialogue on the Levites in the Deuteronomic Law Corpus,”
SBL Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Nov., 2010.
- “Deuteronomy’s Tithe (14:22–27) and Modern Food Studies.” University of Basel
Seminar, Dec., 2009; SBL Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Nov., 2009.
- “Im Schatten des homo oeconomicus: Wirtschaftethik und der Aufgang des
Ökonomischesdenken in spät-alttestamentliche Texten.” University of Zurich OT
Seminar, Nov., 2009.
- “Eating in Deuteronomy 26 as Eating Towards Home.” Deutschschweizerischen Sozietät
für Altes Testament, Zurich, Sept., 2009.
- “Material Culture and the Symbolic Meaning of Meat in Deuteronomy 12.” SBL Annual
Meeting, Boston, Nov., 2008.
- “Comparing Deuteronomic and Ancient Near Eastern Meal Texts.” International SBL,
Vienna, July, 2007.
